As a kid, the tunnel in Willy Wonka freaked me out

As a kid? Shit, that thing has NEVER stopped freaking me out.

I watch horror movies for fun now! The tunnel is a piece of cake at this point.

After the continued unfazedness of assorted Buffista-sprog and friends, the better half and I discussed it further and have decided to not pre-warn Mattias. He hasn't seen Brave yet, and the two traumatic scenes in Toy Story 3 scared him on first viewing, but he loves the movie now. He was also fine with Despicable Me 2, so we figure he should be okay. So thank you, everyone, for helping my put the freaked-out reviewer in perspective.

Thinking about it, my theory on why reviewers tend to freak out over traumatic events in kids movies is because they don't expect them. "They can't do that! This is a kids movie!" forgetting all scary and saddening the stuff they didn't bat an eyelash at as kids, or else processed and moved on.

I remember sobbing at Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows as a kid and being saddened by Charlotte's Web and the ewoks that got killed in Return of the Jedi, but I wouldn't considering any of them traumatic.

Traumatic for me was having a sleep-over at a friend's house when I was 7 or 8 and staying up way too late watching TV with him when some horror movie came on. I don't remember the name of the movie, but I remember there was this fly buzzing around people right before they died and one person crashed their car, which then lit on fire and it showed their charred skeleton sort of slumping in the car (I want to say the head turned creepily towards the camera while it was happening, too) and I had nightmares for weeks. I still get sick to my stomach thinking about it, and I've seen far gorier things since. (Though I've still never liked horror movies.)

While not necessarily traumatic, The Dark Crystal freaked me right the hell out, to the point of asking my grandfather who had rented the VHS tape to turn it off. I thought even the gelflings were creepy-looking. Even seeing stills from the movie still makes me shudder.

I'm the gal who was traumatized by the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz but still insisted on watching it year after year

Oh, me too! Also the scary trees. And the Bumble Monster in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, when I was five or six, had me hiding behind my father's chair. I was a terribly sensitive soul as a child.

When I was three or four I was watching tv and a preview for a show came on where someone woke up in bed and there was a skeleton standing next to the bed. For months I'd remember that scene and get freaked out.

I can't remember getting freaked out by tv or a movie since then, although I'm pretty sure I must have been.

Oh, when I was about ten my mom told me about a movie she and my dad saw where someone was decapitated and their body was thrashing around after that. That freaked me out a little--I still wonder why my mom told me that.

The flying monkeys freaked me out a little--because you can't run away from them!

He was also fine with Despicable Me 2

Wait, did that have a traumatic scene in it? I totally can't remember, but I know I loved that movie.

I don't remember getting freaked out by any movies when I was a kid. I might have been, I just don't remember. Bad things happening to animals have always upset me, but animal deaths like Charlotte and Old Yeller didn't upset me as much as people being mean to them, if that makes sense.

I still haven't watched Grand Budapest Hotel because someone throws a cat out a window apparently.

Tep, there was concern the evil Minions would be traumatic, since they're normally cute and loveable, when they attack the girls. At least that was some of the reviews of the movie I read raised. Obviously, didn't bother my son, so it might have been another over-reaction.

Ah. Huh, that didn't even occur to me.